How To Lower Global Warming? Turn CO2 Into Nanofibers, Researchers Say
A team of researchers from the US have proposed a profitable solution to the global warming problem. They propose to turn the atmospheric carbon dioxide into carbon nanofibers.
The team has developed a chemical process which turns CO2 into nanofibers without expending much energy. The lab setup the researchers described by powered by solar energy. The process can be scaled up to make a dent in the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, researchers claim.Nanofibers are an industrial material, strong and light-weight.
"We have found a way to use atmospheric CO2 to produce high-yield carbon nanofibers. Such nanofibers are used to make strong carbon composites, such as those used in the Boeing Dreamliner, as well as in high-end sports equipment, wind turbine blades and a host of other products," said Stuart Licht the lead researcher of the study from George Washington University.
The chemical reaction involves breaking down of carbon dioxide when subjecting to heat and current in molten bath of electrolytes in which steel and nickel electrodes are immersed. The nanofibers form on the steel electrodes.
Licht believes the process can be scaled to combat global warming.
"We calculate that with a physical area less than 10 percent the size of the Sahara Desert, our process could remove enough CO2 to decrease atmospheric levels to those of the pre-industrial revolution within 10 years," he says.
